The NFL decided on Tuesday afternoon that the St. Louis Rams would be moving back to Los Angeles and once again be known as the Los Angeles Rams. This was wasn’t all that much of a surprise to those of us who have followed the NFL in Los Angeles saga, as it was always obvious that Rams owner Stan Kroenke had wanted to go get out of St. Louis.
When the decision was made official on Tuesday evening, it sent Twitter into a tailspin, with Rams fans upset with the decision, understandably so. It also led social media to be when it is at my personal favorite, confused and angry.
It led to quite a few people shocked that it wasn’t the Jacksonville Jaguars who were relocating and to cope with that shock, they decided that Jaguars owner Shad Khan was going to "come home" to St. Louis and move the Jaguars.
Just spoke to Jaguars owner Shahid Khan. Asked him if he would move St. Louis at any point. He said he did not see that as a possibility.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) January 13, 2016
According to others, Khan was very adamant that he wouldn’t be trying to move to St. Louis, to the surprise of no one who covers the Jaguars closely. Khan has his heels dug in in Jacksonville and has planted roots that are starting to grow. The outrage and assumption that Khan will want to suddenly move the Jaguars to St. Louis is a desperate last grasp at home for the NFL to continue in St. Louis, and I honestly don’t begrudge the Rams fans for reaching for that. I’m sure I would too if the Jaguars were about to leave town, but they’re not.
The uninformed seem to hang on a few things in thinking that Khan will move to St. Louis. The first being that he tried to buy the Rams previously and the second being that he lives "near" St. Louis in Illinois. Neither of those points really mean anything at all. Yeah, Khan tried to buy the Rams in the past and was shut out by Kroenke, but why would that suddenly make him want to relocate the franchise he owns? Khan wasn’t buying the Rams because they were in St. Louis, but because they were simply for sale. Khan wanted to get into the club and he’s into it.
The other point about where Khan lives doesn’t mean much either. He travels quite often and is working to build Jacksonville as an international port. I’m not sure where his permanent residence, which I assume is hardly used, matters. His son, Tony Khan, lives in Jacksonville. So does that snuff out the point of "He lives in Illinois and it’s close to St. Louis!"?
The reality is, Khan is making it work in Jacksonville. There hasn’t been a blackout in years. The stadium is, for the most part, full for a team that’s been a loser the past five years. Those pesky tarps that littered the upper deck to bring down the unreasonable capacity? Those are all but gone and in the near future will just be an afterthought. Not only has the fan support been where it needs to be, considering the team’s record since Khan took ownership, but the Jaguars don’t have any stadium issues. Stadium issues, ultimately, are what forces a franchise to relocate. Look at virtually every team who’s relocated since the NFL has existed. Almost all of them have come down to a stadium issue. The Jaguars aren’t anywhere near having that problem, especially with Khan opening his own checkbook in assisting in upgrades to EverBank Field.
Khan has spent upwards of $75 million in his own money since he took ownership in 2012, and that’s not including the planned Shipyards Project that Khan will be a massive part of. He spent over $10 million of his money making the Jaguars weight room and locker room state of the art. He spent over $20 million of his own money in assisting the construction of the world’s largest scoreboards on either end of EverBank Field. They’re close to breaking ground on a $90 million entertainment complex near the stadium, which includes an indoor practice facility, that Khan kicked in $45 million of his own money for.
It’s awful seeing a city lose their franchise and you don’t like to see, but the old narrative of "The Jaguars are moving to __________" is slowly, but surely, dying. St. Louis is the newest jab, but that’s just a desperation punch. It has no teeth.
Just like the Jaguars were never going to move to Los Angeles, they’re not going to move to St. Louis. Or London.